The bad news is Grilli is the last reliable reliever the Pirates have. The good news is the Mets have used their one good reliever so if they can survive the 9th it becomes a slap fight. And Grilli allows the leadoff man to reach in part because Brandon Inge stinks.

Because I'm a masochist, let's walk through Hurdle's magnum opus that was the 7th inning.

-pinch hits for Jeff Locke, who was cruising. Not a horrible move since I have a feeling he'd have gotten lifted in the bottom of the 7th, but it means you're going to have to go to the bullpen.

-After Tabata reaches on a base hit, Marte bunts him over. Again, not a horrible move in the sense that you're late enough in the game 1 run may be the difference, and Marte was struggling that day. However a) you're taking the bat out of the guy who has been your best hitter all year, b) you're giving up an at-bat when there aren't many left for you, and c) you're giving the Mets a free base to walk Cutch if they get past the #2 hitter. In chess terms, this is like eagerly taking your opponent's knight oblivious to the fact it puts your bishop in grave danger and blocks your queen from entering the melee.

-When the Mets bring in LHP Scott Rice to pitch to Snider, Hurdle pinch hits for Snider with Basura Caliente. Again, on the surface, not a horrible move since Snider struggles against lefties...but it means that if Jones comes up this inning (and he will, because the Mets are going to pitch around Cutch) that Jones has to hit off a lefty and Jones should never face a lefty ever. Basura smacks the ball pretty well but it hangs up for an out. Cutch is walked, and Jones strikes out in one of the sadder at-bats you'll see. Would you rather have Snider and Basura face a lefty or Basura and Jones face a lefty? This sequence occurred because Hurdle is incapable of looking two moves ahead. If you argue that the Mets would have lifted Rice for a RHP, a) I'd rather have Basura face a RHP than Jones face a LHP, and b) the RHP would have been LaTroy Hawkins. I'll gladly take my chances against him.

-Hurdle turns to MATW in the 7th, even though the first 3 batters are righties. Jose Contreras is on the team for this specific purpose, but Hurdle's determined to make MATW his 7th inning guy despite the fact he's a barely serviceable LOOGY. The 4th batter in the inning was a lefty in Ike Davis...who of course doubled off MATW.

KennyTheKangaroo wrote:paul alexander on this mornings show was insisting that he has never met a closer that had the same mentality in a tie game as in a save situation. what a crock of crap excuse that is.

KennyTheKangaroo wrote:paul alexander on this mornings show was insisting that he has never met a closer that had the same mentality in a tie game as in a save situation. what a crock of crap excuse that is.

So Grilli's mentality changed over the winter?

Yes, it's an excuse. A really poor one.

I don't follow the Pirates close enough to know how their closer is doing, but are people still arguing that closers pitch the same in non-save situations as in save situatuions? I'm willing to bet the stats strongly suggest otherwise.